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A356.0 Aluminum vs. N08020 Stainless Steel

A356.0 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while N08020 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 29 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is A356.0 aluminum and the bottom bar is N08020 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 3.0 to 6.0
15 to 34
Fatigue Strength, MPa 50 to 90
210 to 240
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 160 to 270
610 to 620
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 83 to 200
270 to 420

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 500
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 610
1410
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1360
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
460
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
12
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 21
15

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 40
1.6
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
1.8

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
38
Density, g/cm3 2.6
8.2
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.0
6.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
92
Embodied Water, L/kg 1110
220

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 4.8 to 15
83 to 170
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 49 to 300
180 to 440
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 53
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 29
21
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 36
20
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 64
3.2
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.6 to 13
15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 91.1 to 93.3
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.070
Chromium (Cr), % 0
19 to 21
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.2
3.0 to 4.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.2
29.9 to 44
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.25 to 0.45
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.0 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
32 to 38
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0 to 1.0
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 6.5 to 7.5
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.035
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.2
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0